


Astro Boy and Kitsune

by NotThatIWillEverWriteIt



Series: Shigure - Autumn Rain [1]
Category: Given (Anime), Given (Manga)
Genre: Akihiko is a fool in love, Attempt at Humor, Cute, Fanart, First Dates, First Kiss, High School, If you wanna call it that..., Light Angst, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-30
Updated: 2020-04-30
Packaged: 2021-03-01 18:07:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,545
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23931304
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NotThatIWillEverWriteIt/pseuds/NotThatIWillEverWriteIt
Summary: Akihiko takes Ugetsu to the summer festival. First date, question mark.
Relationships: Kaji Akihiko/Murata Ugetsu
Series: Shigure - Autumn Rain [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1725043
Comments: 9
Kudos: 26





	Astro Boy and Kitsune

**Author's Note:**

> My first ever AkiUgetsu/Given fic. Inspired by a night filled with AKiUgetsu festival headcanons in Ugetsu's Cult. 
> 
> The edit is done by me. 
> 
> **Read and review! <(_ _)>**

Akihiko drew a deep drag of his cigarette and made himself and his dignity a silent promise. Never again in his life would he submit to wear this damn thing and go stand at some street corner feeling like he was in his pajamas. A breeze brushed against places it had no business airing out in public, and Akihiko adjusted the hem of his yukata and tugged on the obi belt for the umpteenth time. No matter how much he tightened the belt around his waist, it felt like the fabric was slipping and sliding.

He tapped ashes off the smoldering tip of his cigarette and grimaced at how the yukata clung to his damp back. It had been another scorcher that day. Even though the sun was starting to set, the late-night drizzle had added humidity to the still lingering warmth. Akihiko tried to ignore the way his skin was damp and itchy under the yukata and crushed the cigarette stub on the wet pavement with his sandal.

His mother had gotten him the yukata a couple of years ago but for her great annoyance, he had always refused to put it on. She had said he would handsome in the navy-blue fabric with zig-zag patterns and black obi belt. And that had been why he was in this predicament right now. Vanity.

That and he had mentioned the yukata to Ugetsu.

“Oh?” he had said, and warning bells had immediately gone off in Akihiko’s head. 

Ugetsu’s eyes – chocolate brown and twinkling with mischief – had squinted up at Akihiko from where Ugetsu had been crouched down on the little threshold of the door that led to the school roof.

“I would love to see this handsome Aki,” he had said, a coy little smile playing on his stupid lips.

And here he stood dressed up in the stupid thing and sucking in his stomach in because the belt made him feel like had a gut. And Ugetsu, the damn bastard, was – grumbling about his own weakness to chocolate eyes, Akihiko dug out his phone – almost twenty minutes late now. Fed up, he opened the messaging app and narrowed his eyes at the little green dot next to Ugetsu’s profile picture in his contacts.

_where r u_

A couple of seconds and Ugetsu’s picture blobbed down next to Akihiko’s message. Read. Okay. Good.

Akihiko shifted on his feet and tugged on the yukata again.

Still read.

R. E. A. D.

Well?

Where were the three little dancing dots indicating that Ugetsu was scripting his written apology and that he would be there shortly, deeply sorry for the inconvenience? And for making Akihiko feel like he was standing naked for people to ogle?

Did this fucking asshole just leave him on “read”?

He growled at his phone.

“Aki.”

And suddenly Ugetsu was there, all twinkly-eyed and smiling his usual teasing smile. Akihiko’s name falling off his lips like it always did – like Ugetsu had a secret, but Akihiko had to guess what it was. It was infuriating. It was intriguing.

It was Ugetsu.

Akihiko swallowed and glared at him.

“You’re late.”

Ugetsu’s eyes squinted when his little smirk deepened.

“Or you’re just helplessly early. What are you, a little kid going on a trip?”

Akihiko’s mouth snapped shut. He couldn’t really argue with that. So, maybe he had been a little early. Sue him for not wanting to make people wait. He settled for grumbling about owning a watch, unlike _some_ people.

“Shall we?” Ugetsu said and swiftly hooked his arm in Akihiko’s, paying no mind to his muttering.

With stiff legs – because he had been standing there for _ages_ , not at all because Ugetsu was close and Akihiko could smell his shampoo – Akihiko followed Ugetsu’s lead, and they merged into the stream of people leisurely flowing through the festival.

The young summer evening was on its way to aging into a beautiful night full of promises. Last rays of the setting sun tinted the horizon with hues of yellow and red over the city. The falling dusk made all the festival lights come to life. Rows and rows of orange lanterns glowed in the deepening darkness. The strings of them sagged over the stands and stalls, illuminating the little streets and pathways cutting and squaring the vast area in smaller islands.

Akihiko stole glances at Ugetsu walking next to him, still hanging on to his arm. He was wearing a dark grey yukata with an ivory belt. Now and then the folded hems slipped a little, revealing the prominent collarbones. The fabric hugged the back of Ugetsu’s thin neck snuggly, making the pale nape look soft. Around his narrow wrist hung a little fabric velvet pouch embroidered with black patterns.

“So,” Akihiko said with a gruff voice, “on a scale from one to shut-up-and-take-me-now, how handsome do I look?”

As soon as the words left his mouth, he knew he had just served the last remains of his dignity on a silver platter. Bon appétit.

Ugetsu cast him a long, evaluating look from his worn-out sandals to the top of his sweaty, itchy hair. His lips pursed in an exaggerated ponder. Akihiko narrowed his eyes at how he was obviously trying to hold back a smirk and doing a terrible job at it.

“Hmm,” Ugetsu drawled, “the casing seems nice enough, but I’ll reserve my final review until your octaves in Beethoven’s concerto aren’t sharp anymore.”

“They’re not _always_ sharp”

“No,” Ugetsu said with a shit-eating grin, “usually they’re flat.”

“How about I’ll flat your face?”

Laughter sparkled in Ugetsu’s chocolate eyes, and he reached to pat the top of Akihiko’s head. Wafts of his shampoo – something fruity – tickled Akihiko’s nose.

“Don’t worry, I’ll look good for both of us. And tell you when you’re out of tune.”

Akihiko scoffed and slapped Ugetsu’s hand away.

“Shut up.”

The festival area stretched far and wide around them. The familiar streets and alleys were packed cheek by jowl with all kinds of stands and stalls. Sings were hung and perched up everywhere – each brighter and more colorful than the other to attract customers to buy useless knick-knacks and fried noodles from them and not the next stall over, or the one after that.

Akihiko caught a glimpse of a wall of cheap festival masks.

“Come on,” he said and tugged Ugetsu along, “let’s downgrade you.”

The vendor, a small old woman barely reaching Akihiko to his chest, greeted them eagerly as soon as they breached her line of sight through the crowd. Nimbly for her age, she stepped aside to let them marvel her impressive collection.

There was a lonely light bulb hanging from the canopy, and its yellow glow cast shadows on the masks, almost making them come to life. Akihiko let his gaze wander the colorful abundance until one of them caught his eye. The character design was a bit different, but he recognized it to be a popular superhero from when he had been a kid. The series was still running on television, and there was a movie coming out this summer. He picked the mask off the rack, and the cheap flimsy plastic crackled when he adjusted it to cover his face. 

“Look,” he said, his voice muffled, and tapped Ugetsu on his shoulder. "Boo."

Ugetsu had been peering at the kitsune masks on the other side of the stall. Akihiko smirked victoriously behind the plastic when Ugetsu turned to him and visibly startled.

“You look stupid.”

“Shut up, I look cool.”

“What even is that?”

“He’s the greatest hero of all times,” Akihiko said and raised his fist in the air like he was about to soar into space. “Let’s rocket!”

“Huh?”

The cool night air caressed Akihiko’s face when he slid off the hot and suffocating mask. The edges left red dents framing his face.

“You seriously have never heard of Astro Boy? What rock have you lived under?”

“I never watched those things,” Ugetsu said with a shrug. “I was busy practicing.”

Akihiko frowned at his tone. It rang hollow in his ears. He glanced at the comic character mask in his hand, and it smiled at him back lifelessly. Living with the kind of free-spirited parents as he had, television and manga had been his babysitters. Cartoons like Astro Boy had woken up in the mornings and comics had tucked him in in the evenings.

Practicing? He had been practicing, too. Violin had been validation. His mom smiling and clapping at his little performances in the living room. Wearing father’s heavy jacket that smelled like his cologne and shiny dress shoes that were so big on him he had to shuffle his feet. Father’s big, rough hand tussling his hair, his deep voice when he called Akihiko his little violinist.

But if Akihiko had practiced like Ugetsu, then maybe…

Quietly, he looked at Ugetsu’s back turned to him while he was fiddling with the angry red and puffed oni masks.

Had they already been set apart then?

“I’ll take this,” he said, turning to look at the vendor and digging out his wallet. He nodded towards Ugetsu, “and one of those kitsune masks for him.”

“I don’t need one,” Ugetsu said.

“Yeah, you do.”

Paying no mind to Ugetsu rolling his eyes at him, Akihiko picked off one of the white-red fox masks. It smiled at him mysteriously, teasingly, and its black eyes were squinted almost like a pair of chocolate brown ones. Ugetsu’s head flinched like a cat’s when they’re suddenly petted when Akihiko stretched the rubber band and adjusted the mask snuggly against the side of his head. As a finishing touch, he carefully pulled wisps of the silky, black hair tangled uncomfortably under the band.

“I’ll lend you some Astro Boys,” Akihiko said. “Gotta educate your uncultured ass some.”

“Don’t,” Ugetsu mumbled and shifted the mask a little, messing up Akihiko’s delicate handiwork.

“I don’t want to read any stupid comics.”

Frowning and clicking his tongue under his breath, Akihiko reached to tug the curls behind Ugetsu’s ear. The chocolate eyes widened but refused to look up at him, when he let his hand linger, the bump of his thumb brushing softly Ugetsu’s cheek in passing.

“Too bad,” Akihiko said and grinned down at him, “I’m gonna make you read them anyway.”

He snatched hold of Ugetsu’s hand and led him to rejoin the stream of people. The streets were getting more packed and bustled with guests who had finally gotten out of their offices. Salarymen with loosened ties and jackets folded in the crook of their arm. Girlfriends in flowery yukatas holding hands with their boyfriends. Mothers fixing their children’s outfits and giving them a few coins to try and catch a goldfish.

Slowly they sauntered along with the crowd but right there, in the middle of the rippling and winding mass of people, they had their own secret world. Safely tucked between them, away from curious glances was Ugetsu’s hand engulfed in Akihiko’s. Solid and warm, slightly sweaty. Ugetsu’s nimble fingers, calloused from the taut strings, hesitantly holding onto him.

A group – a chain, really – of rowdy kids frolicked past them as they wiggled through the gaps in the crowd. One of them was wearing the same Astro Boy mask as Akihiko. He was about to point at the kid and rub ‘see, I told you so’ in Ugetsu’s face but was silence by the far-off look on Ugetsu’s face. 

“I think”, Ugetsu said, “I’ll play that Sibelius concerto at the regionals.”

A scratch of the needle. A pull somewhere in Akihiko’s gut that yanked him back to earth. Tension crept up to stiffen his shoulders.

“I thought you decided already.”

“I did, but now I’m sure.” Ugetsu smiled his mysterious smile at the crowd stretching in front of them. “It’s like this night.”

Viscous tar was pouring in Akihiko’s gut at the sight of that smile. The butterflies that had been fanning the pleasant nervous buzz in his stomach ever since he had been standing at the street corner were quickly drowning in the sticky blackness.

“Sibelius in D minor is like fried food and overprized vendor junk?”

But Ugetsu was already out his reach. His chocolate eyes closed from Akihiko and his head swaying a little to an invisible tune, he was listening to the festival around him but hearing something others couldn’t.

What Akihiko couldn’t.

He let his gaze wandered over the horizon where the sundown cast its last soft glow upon the festival stands and guests. In his head, he could only hear the first strokes of Sibelius’ concerto until the notes were drowned out by the hustle and bustle. They didn’t connect.

“Then you should play it,” he said.

Ugetsu’s eyes fluttered open, and whatever the spell he had been under broke. A dark sense of satisfaction bubbled in Akihiko. Moist, fat blobs of the tar. Sticky, black glee. He tightened his hold on Ugetsu’s hand.

“What about Aki?”

“Huh?” Akihiko said, trying to muster a joking tone but surely falling short on reaching the lightness of a tease. “This night’s obviously Vivaldi.”

Ugetsu snorted.

“That’s such a cliché,” he said. “No, I meant what are you going to play at the regionals?”

Akihiko’s jaw clenched, and he resisted the urge to roll his shoulder to ease the tension. Instead, he fumbled with the hem of his yukata, trying to adjust it once again.

“Nothing.”

“You haven’t decided yet?”

“No,” Akihiko said with more weight, “I’m playing nothing ‘cause I’m not going.”

There was a whisper of disturbance in their joined hands when Ugetsu pulled back from him. Akihiko could feel his eyes bore into the side of his head but stubbornly stared ahead.

“I thought you were practicing Brahms.”

He had been practicing. Then he had skipped once to pick up an extra shift at work. Then another. And another. After almost three weeks of skipping, he had told his teacher he wouldn’t be participating in the regionals. She had agreed.

“It’s not like this is the only competition,” he said, annoyance creeping into this voice. “There’ll be others.”

Ugetsu fell silent next to him, and his fingers around Akihiko’s hand slacked. They drifted along with the river of people without a destination, halfheartedly browsing the passing stands and stalls. The mood had plummeted, and Akihiko barely resisted his urge to pull the Astro Boy mask over his face again.

Let’s rocket. Rocket high trough the sky.

If he had worked on his Brahms, could he have soared the skies like Ugetsu? If he had practiced instead of watched cartoons?

No, he was too heavy. The tar in the pit of his stomach weighed him down.

“I’m starving. Let’s eat something.”

Without waiting for a reply, he pulled on Ugetsu’s loosened hand and led them to the first food stall he spotted through the crowd. A takoyaki stand dishing out fried balls of savory goodness as fast as they could. Akihiko ordered two portions, extra sauce and bonito flakes. Quietly they watched as the cook filled the little hollow, sizzling hot upside-down domes with thick batter. The practiced hands flew as he swiftly and nimbly rolled the balls of firming batter with two sticks until they were golden brown.

Akihiko took the two sets of paper baskets and little wooden, disposable sticks the cook handed him over the counter. Heat radiated against his palms and spread everywhere in him, dissolving their conversation until it was but a mere hiccup. He handed Ugetsu his share, and a smile he hadn’t seen before deepened Ugetsu’s eyes when he held his steaming plate, almost cradling it like a little animal.

“Man, it’s been ages since I’ve eaten these,” Akihiko said and skewered on of the balls.

The softly curling steam was disturbed when he gave a few puffs but was too impatient to wait any longer, salvia flooding his mouth. He sunk his teeth into the fluffy dough and immediately regretted every dumb choice in his life, especially this one. Crying out in pain, he flinched and spat the piece of scorching dough back in the paper basket.

“Ow, huck!” he exclaimed, his words slurring as he hung his burned tongue out. “Agh!”

A bit startled, Ugetsu looked up at him from his own takoyaki which, of course, he had had the sense to cut open to let their filling cool down. Tears pooling in his eyes, Akihiko glared at the neatly halved balls of dough while fanning his stinging tongue. It must have been a comical sight because Ugetsu’s mouth started to quiver as he watched Akihiko squirming and hanging his mouth open.

Akihiko threw him a murderous glare.

“Huth up,” he said, “hif if nof fuffy, you affhow.”

That seemed to be the fateful last nail for Ugetsu’s self-control, and he burst into laughter. Open-mouthed, clutching-onto-your-sides kind of laughter. The giggles bubbled out bright and clear, tinted with mischievous glee. It was infuriating. It was adorable.

It was Ugetsu.

“Do you – ahhahhah – do you want me to blow on your boo-boo?”

“Huck huy.”

Akihiko tentatively rubbed his sore tongue against the roof his mouth with a sour face. Ugetsu wiped his eyes and tried to catch his breath. A few last guffaws escaped him, eager to race after the others and melt into the festival hubbub.

“Holf fhis,” Akihiko said and shoved Ugetsu his share of the food. “I’m gonna buy somefhing cold fo fink.”

“Are you sure you don’t need Ugetsu-nii to blow on you boo-boo?” Ugetsu said after him as he angrily stomped off, tugging on his yukata. “Pain, pain fly – “

The rest of the jeering was thankfully drowned out as Akihiko made his way through the ever-thickening crowd. It didn’t take him long to spot the first relief for his pain; a shaved ice vendor. He ordered the biggest pile available and indulged in an unhealthy amount of toppings: strawberry syrup, two kinds of jelly cubes, fresh mango pieces, chewy gummy bears, and a generous dollop of sweetened condensed milk.

Hurriedly he carved a big spoonful of the frost and nearly hummed out loud as the coldness soothed his charred tongue. The sweetness hit him instantly. Akihiko didn’t have a big sweet tooth but neither did Ugetsu. He would definitely be grossed out the sugary concoction. 

Immersed in savoring his sweet revenge, he wasn’t paying proper attention when turning around the corner of one of the stands and bumped into something solid, sending it flying to the ground. The giant cup of ice nearly slipped his hands, but in the last second, he managed to save it from hitting the ground – or more likely spilling on the little crying child in front of him.

“Woops, woah,” he said and glanced at the kid, “oh, sorry. Ya alright?”

He reached down to help the boy up, but the kid just cried and sat sprawled on the ground in his little yukata that had colorful pictures of octopus on it. Akihiko looked around the crowd. The curious glances of the passers-by burned his face. He crunched down to the kid’s level and patted on the small shoulder clumsily.

“Didja hurt yourself?”

The kid’s chubby face was twisted in body-wrenching sobs and covered in milky tear streams and gooey snot. Akihiko doubted he could hear or see anything. He balled up the sleeve of his yukata and carefully, _gingerly_ tried to wipe the big, fat tears rolling down the chubby cheeks without accidentally poking the kid’s eye out. The rubbing of the rough fabric seemed to distract the boy enough that he at least looked up at Akihiko with his huge, dark brown pools of tears.

“Where’s your ma?”

Akihiko glanced around the crowd steadily streaming past them but all he could see were a shifting wall of yukatas and feet.

“M-mom…,” the kid sniffed, his lower starting to quiver once again, “moo-om...”

“No, no, no, don’t – “

Panicked, Akihiko hurried to shush him before he was back to square one. Not coming up with anything else on the spot, he slid the Astro Boy mask over his face.

“Hey, kid,” he said, “look here.”

The boy’s nearly black eyes widened comically and nailed to Akihiko’s face. His little mouth opened in a silent O, and Akihiko could see a couple of gaps in his nubby row of baby teeth.

“It’s okay, Astro Boy is here.”

Suddenly filled with odd, newly found confidence, he picked the boy up from the ground with sure hands and straightened his little yukata. It didn’t seem the kid was hurt. Through the little eyeholes, Akihiko gave the kid a quick once-over. It didn’t seem he was hurt, just scared.

“What’s your name?”

“Ko-kotalo,” the boy said, his voice thick and stuffy, and Akihiko could barely make it out in the crowd.

“Kotaro?”

Quiet nodding. Small balled fists rubbing the remaining tears out of the eyes.

“Didja lose your ma?”

More silent nodding, accompanied with shuddering breath hitching in the kid’s throat as he threatened to gear up for another sob. Akihiko snatched his cup of loaded shaved ice and dangled it in front of the boy’s face.

“Do ya want some of this?”

Somewhere in the back of his head, a voice suggested that maybe wearing a mask and handing sweets to crying little kids probably wasn’t the best possible look. But at this point, he was ready to look like a creep to keep the boy quiet. Hesitantly, the little hands wrapped around the giant cup of ice, but the round eyes never looked away from Akihiko’s mask.

Releasing a quiet sigh of relief, Akihiko stood up and reached his hand down for the kid.

“I’ll help ya find her.”

He found Ugetsu sitting on the sidewalk curb where he had left him holding their takoyaki plates. His face was worth seeing when he spotted Akihiko in his Astro Boy mask carefully maneuvering through the crowd with a little kid.

“Found this little guy crying by himself,” Akihiko said, conveniently deciding Ugetsu didn’t need to know about Akihiko basically bulldozing over the poor kid. “He lost his mom in the crowd. Can you look after him for a bit when I go find…an info tent or something?”

Ugetsu and the boy had been silently blinking at each other, but his gaze shot up at him when Akihiko nudged the kid towards him.

“What?”

Akihiko pushed the mask off and tussled his sweaty hair back in decent enough order. Talking behind the plastic had gathered moisture on his face, and he was relieved to cool down. He crouched down and handed the colorful mask to the boy.

“Here, you hold onto this for a while.” Akihiko nodded towards Ugetsu. “He’s a real scaredy-cat, so you gotta protect him. Just put this on if he gets scared.”

“Wait, Aki – We’ll come with you.”

“I don’t wanna drag him through the crowd. I’ll just find the info and have them announce him found or something.”

Ugetsu frowned and glanced at the kid who held Akihiko’s bucket of shaved ice in one hand and the Astro Boy mask in another.

“But – “

“Just sit with him and wait for me. I’m gonna be right back!”

The last thing he saw over his shoulder before bracing his obi belt to push through the mass of people again was Ugetsu looking after him, his mouth slightly open, and the little boy in an octopus yukata standing next to him, trying on Akihiko’s mask.

With the help of a couple of vendors – who looked disappointed when Akihiko wasn’t going to buy anything from them – he managed to find the closest thing to an info desk near the festival entrance. He could barely get the words ‘missing boy’ out of his mouth when a woman who had been talking with one of the organizers spun around and clutched on his forearm. She had soft-looking bobbed hair and the same dark, round eyes as her son. In the crook of her arm, she was carrying a small kids’ backpack with brightly colored shark and octopus prints on it.

They found Ugetsu and Kotaro sitting side by side on the curb and quietly munching on the plumb takoyaki. Both of them looked like squirrels with the way their cheeks were stuffed and chubby. Akihiko’s cup of ice was forgotten between them. It had melted into gross sugary slosh with gummy bears and jelly and mango pieces floating in it.

“Kotaro!"

The little boy’s gaze shot up from what looked like the remains of Akihiko’s share of the takoyaki as he recognized his mother’s voice. The Astro Boy mask was flipped around to the back of his head. Its bright-eyed plastic smile was a strong contrast to the tears already pooling in Kotaro’s eyes as he sprung up and ran to his mother.

“Mom!”

She picked up the crying boy and squeezed him tightly against her chest. Little arms wrapped behind her neck like vines. 

“I was so worried about you!” she told him off while rubbing the small back soothingly. “How many times do I have to tell you not to run off like that? I was so scared!”

Kotaro’s apologies were muffled against her shoulder as he clung to her. With an apologetic smile, she turned to Akihiko and Ugetsu and bowed them as deeply as she could while holding her son.

“I’m so sorry we caused you so much trouble. Thank you.”

“Nah,” Akihiko said, “don’t worry about it.”

“Kotaro, you thank them, too. You made these people worry on such a beautiful night.”

A sudden burst of shyness seemed to have overtaken the little boy, and he just buried his face deeper into the crook of his mother’s neck. Akihiko could make quiet mumbles thick with tears and sleepy relief of anxiety that his little body had been trying to contain for so long.

“Oh, I believe this is yours,” she said and untangled the Astro Boy mask around Kotaro’s head, handing it towards Akihiko.

“He can have it.”

“But it cost you money…We can’t possibly…”

Akihiko rubbed the back of his neck and tried to go for what he hoped was a polite smile but was fairly certain came across as a grimace. He barely resisted the urge to tug on his yukata to make sure the hems were decent.

“I can buy another one. Let him keep it.”

“Well,” she said hesitantly and bowed once more, “thank you very much. You’re a really nice young man. Have fun at the festival!”

Before the crowd swallowed the pair, Akihiko met eyes with Kotaro over his mother’s shoulder. His little hand waved at him slightly. He waved him back until he couldn’t seem them anymore.

Alone again, he slumped down to sit next to Ugetsu on the curb, suddenly exhausted and deprived of nicotine. With a sigh, he dug out his wrinkled pack of cigarettes and lighter. While leaning his elbows on his knees he drew on the bitter smoke and let his eyes rest on the bustling colorful scenery constantly shifting in front of them.

“Are you sure you should smoke in public?” Ugetsu said with a smirk and bumped his shoulder. “You being such a nice young man and all.”

“Shut up.”

They were snuggled away from people’s eyes behind a gold fishing stand and a candy apple vendor. Akihiko’s cigarette smoke mixed in with the sweet stench of apples being dipped in liquid candy and the secluded stillness between them with the laughter and exclamations of kids trying to catch themselves a goldfish.

“The fireworks will start soon,” Ugetsu said.

Akihiko hummed from behind his palm, and cloudy swirls of smoke twirled out between the gaps. They were sitting so close on the curb he could feel Ugetsu’s body heat radiating through the clothes.

“How was the kid?”

“He liked your takoyaki.”

“I noticed. Is there any food left?”

“No.”

Ugetu’s legs were stretched out, and he was tapping the tips of his sandals lightly together and fiddling with his red-and-white kitsune mask. Every little movement sent electric Morse codes where their elbows and shoulders were touching.

“Wanna get a candy apple? I heard the green ones color your tongue.”

Ugetsu’s shoulder brushed against Akihiko’s when he shrugged quietly. Akihiko felt like he had been left on ‘read’ again. He drew another deep drag of his cigarette stub and held the smoke in his lung until he was forced to breathe out.

“Ugetsu.”

“Mm?”

“Go out with me.”

The sandals paused their tapping and hands froze. The stillness suddenly heavy and thick between them like the tar in the pit of Akihiko’s gut. He could feel Ugetsu’s eyes on the side of his head and found himself regretting giving away the Astro Boy mask.

“This again? I already told you – “

They both flinched and looked up when there was a sudden colorful whizz rising to the skies. The crowd stilled and stirred at the same time when everyone’s heads craned back. The swoosh fizzled out and with a loud bang, exploded into an expanding ball of bright red streaks. People exclaimed and pointed at the sky. The descending streaks had barely time to fade out into little dots and get swallowed by the dark sky before there were another swoosh and a bang, this time a bright green one.

The fireworks looked like sparkling flowers blooming in the sky.

Out of the corner of his eyes, Akihiko glanced at Ugetsu next to him. The bright colors shone on his face, shadowed by the night’s darkness.

Bang, red. Bang, bang. Blue, green. Bang. Bang, BAGN. Red. Another red, YELLOW.

Before his mind could catch up, his body was already moving. The chocolate eyes widened when Akihiko leaned in and reached to cup the soft cheek, strands of black hair sliding between the fingers. A quiet sound of surprise slipping between Ugetsu’s parted lips was swallowed and silenced by Akihiko’s mouth.

The moment their lips touched Akihiko didn’t know what to do next. It was fumbling and clumsy. Nervous and sloppy. Helplessly out of rhythm.

It was his first kiss.

When he pulled back, Akihiko could see the reflections of the firework-flowers bloom and whither in Ugetsu’s wide chocolate-brown sky-eyes. The bangs were almost as loud as Akihiko’s thumping heart.

Tentatively licking his lips with the tip of his tongue, Ugetsu turned away. Akihiko buried his burning face in his forearms and squeezed his eyes close. In the little cocoon of his yukata-lap, his breathing sounded heavy and raspy. The gulp of his Adam’s apple echoed deep in his throat. The cigarette hung smoldering and forgotten between his fingers.

He wanted to throw up.

He wanted to kiss Ugetsu again.

He jumped a little when something heavy softly thudded against him. Leaning and pressing. Warm and bony. Holding his breath, he waited and listened to the fireworks banging in the sky and in his heart.

“Stupid Aki,” Ugetsu finally said quietly. “Stupid Aki in his stupid yukata that makes him look handsome.”

Carefully Akihiko craned his neck to look at Ugetsu but all he could see were black tufts of his hair. Akihiko’s cheek smushed against his yukata-covered forearm. The cool night air brushed against his flushed face.

“Shut-up-and-take-me-now handsome?”

“Stupid handsome.”

Ugetsu had gone back to fiddling with his kitsune mask. Absentmindedly, he was plucking on the knot that held the flimsy, flaccid rubber band in place. Stealing a false start on his brain again, Akihiko’s hand jerked forward and, sweaty and clumsy, planted itself on top of Ugetsu’s. The restless fingers stilled, and he could feel Ugetsu tensing up against him.

“Is this stupid, too?”

“Yes.”

“And if I kiss you again?”

“Hundred million times more stupid.”

“That much, huh?”

“At least.”

Ugetsu’s hand stirred under Akihiko’s, slowly twisting so that his cold fingers entwined ever so carefully with Akihiko’s thicker ones, snuggling in the gaps.

“Aki.”

“Mm?”

“You’re sweaty.”

“Well, you’re annoying, so I guess we’re even.”

Akihiko looked at their joint hands in Ugetsu’s lap. Ugetsu’s violin resonated with emotions Akihiko had never been able to reach. Elegance and temper. Seductiveness and charisma. The notes bounced in the air, chasing each other until they reached the listener’s core. They _connected_. Akihiko resented those hands. He wanted to break them. He wanted them for himself.

“Aki.”

“Mm?”

“I’m cold.”

“How can you be cold, it’s gazillion degrees in here?”

“Is that why you’re so sweaty?”

“Shut up,” Akihiko grumbled and pinched Ugetsu’s fingers tighter between his own.

He was both bewitched and cursed by Ugetsu at the same time. When those fingers he resented held onto him like this, he found himself unable to let go. He was trapped in their hesitant hold and yearned for more. All of it. He wanted Ugetsu to hold him like he held the violin. To give _him_ the emotions he gave to the violin – to love him like that.

He wanted Ugetsu to love him the way Akihiko loved him.

“Aki.”

“Mm?”

“I want a candy apple after all.”

Akihiko snorted. “Only if you’ll get the green one.”

“I want red.”

“Well, tough.”

“Aki.”

“For the love of – _what_?”

“Weren’t you going to kiss me again?”

**The End.**

**Author's Note:**

> Behind the keyboard: [Tumblr](https://notthatiwilleverwriteit.tumblr.com/) | [Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/venni.talvi.31) | Instagram: @notthatiwilleverwriteit


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